Commentator Kevin Phillips on The American History We Get Wrong

Back in 1976 the U.S. celebrated the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – the Bicentennial.

In about a year and a half, we’ll be marking the nation’s 250th anniversary. It’s called the “semiquincentennial,” or sestercentennial.

Either way, we may be wrong – 1776 was not necessarily the great historical focal point we’ve all been taught that it was.

So said noted political commentator Kevin Phillips in a 2012 book he called 1775.

The time leading up the actual Declaration may be more pivotal, in the long run, than the actual document itself, in spite of the famous painting of the signing on July 4th. That, too, is a myth, says Phillips.

How do we keep 1776 in proper perspective?

Kevin Phillips died in 2023. He was 82.

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Here now, from 2012, Kevin Phillips.